programmer

Etymology

It is formed from English program + -er, as an agent noun from the verb.^[2][3][4][5] The verb program (1889, at first "to write programme notes") comes from the noun,^[3] which is from Late Latin programma (“proclamation, edict”), from Ancient Greek πρόγραμμα (prógramma, “a written public notice”), from προγράφω (prográphō, “to write publicly”), formed from πρό (pró, “forth”) and the Greek verb for "to write" (see -graphy).^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

A person who arranges a programme, schedule or itinerary for an event or a series of events: 1875, in the Steubenville (Ohio) Daily Herald & News.^[2][6] Etymonline dates this "event planner" sense to 1890,^[3] the Collegiate to about 1889,^[7] and Dictionary.com to 1885–90.^[5]

Semantic evolution

In 1945, in a description of the ENIAC, a programmer was a part of an early computer, roughly what later machines called the control unit; the word later passed to any device that automatically controls the working of a machine or appliance.^[2][4] The sense "a person who writes computer programs" is recorded from 1948.^[2][3] From 1932 an American programmer was also a supporting film shown with the main feature, a programme picture, a sense now chiefly historical.^[2][4] The Historical Thesaurus files the older general sense under planners, and later also under those who devise teaching programmes (from 1958) and those who put on broadcasts (from 1978).^[8]

Timeline

• 1875 – a person who arranges a programme of events.^[2][6]
• 1932 – a supporting film, a programme picture.^[2]
• 1945 – a part of an early computer that controls its operations; later, a device that automatically controls a machine.^[2]
• 1948 – a person who writes computer programs.^[2][3]

Meanings

Noun

1. A person who writes computer programs or software: She worked as a programmer for a bank.^[9][2][10]
2. A device that automatically controls the operation of a machine or appliance, such as a central heating system.^[2][4][6]
3. A person who plans or prepares a programme, such as an instructional programme or a schedule of events or broadcasts.^[2][6][10]
4. (historical) A supporting film shown with the main feature.^[2][4]

Related words

• program
• -graphy

Usage notes

The American spelling programer is also recorded.^[9][4][10]

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d e f Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
6. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
7. ^ Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
8. ^ Kay, Christian; Roberts, Jane; Samuels, Michael; Wotherspoon, Irené, eds. (2009), Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford: Oxford University Press; online edition (2024)
9. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
10. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt